French Couple Loses $1M in Bitcoin in Fake Police Raid

Highlights:

• Fake police forced a French couple to send nearly $1 million in Bitcoin.
• Attackers tied up the victims and escaped after confirming the crypto transfer.
• France is seeing more violent crimes targeting people linked to cryptocurrency.

A shocking home invasion in France has highlighted the rising physical security risks for cryptocurrency holders. Attackers forced a couple in their late 50s to transfer nearly $1 million in Bitcoin after entering their home near Versailles. 

How the Attack Unfolded

According to reports from TF1 Info, the incident happened early Monday morning in Le Chesnay, a district in the Yvelines department, located west of Paris. Three men arrived at the couple’s house and pretended to be police officers. They told the victims they were conducting an official inspection. As a result, the suspects convinced the couple to open the door and let them enter the house. Once inside, the suspects quickly showed their real plan.

Investigators said one attacker pulled out a knife and threatened to stab the woman unless her partner sent BTC to a wallet controlled by them. Facing immediate danger, the man complied and transferred about €900,000, roughly $1 million.

🚨$1M BITCOIN ROBBERY TARGETS COUPLE IN THEIR 50s IN FRANCE🇫🇷

Three men posing as police targeted a couple in their 50s in Versailles, France, forcing them at knifepoint to transfer about $1 million in $BTC.

The attackers threatened to stab the woman if the man didn’t send the… pic.twitter.com/c9FYEmKfx5

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) March 10, 2026

Reports say the criminals then tied up the couple and forced them onto a sofa after confirming the transaction on the blockchain. The woman suffered a minor shoulder injury during the attack. The attackers fled the house in a van, leaving the victims tied up inside. Despite the trauma, the woman freed herself soon after the criminals left. She untied her husband and alerted neighbors, who quickly contacted authorities.

French authorities confirmed the theft and launched a criminal investigation. The Brigade for the Repression of Banditry, a special unit of the French judicial police, is leading the case. Prosecutors are preparing charges against the suspects for armed robbery by an organized gang, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy. Police are actively searching for the three attackers, but no arrests have been made yet. Investigators are following the Bitcoin transaction trail, hoping it will help track the stolen funds.

France Sees Rise in Crypto Attacks

Aside from the theft itself, the case of the Versailles robbery also illustrates the increasing danger of wrench attacks in France and in Europe as a whole. Wrench attacks are different from other cybercrimes in that, unlike in other cybercrimes, the intention is not to hack a wallet but to coerce the victim to unlock it physically. According to a recent CertiK report, 72 such cases were verified worldwide last year, with France recording the highest number at 19. Europe accounted for around 40% of the global total. 

Wrench attacks are no longer edge cases.

In 2025, wrench attacks rose 75%, with $40.9M in confirmed losses—solidifying targeted violence as a structural risk in digital asset ownership.

The Skynet Wrench Attacks Report is now live.

Read it here👇https://t.co/DRCQAMeRbV

— CertiK (@CertiK) February 2, 2026

France faced several serious crypto crimes this year. In early February, police arrested six suspects, including a minor, after kidnappers took a magistrate and her mother. The attackers demanded a ransom from the magistrate’s partner, a crypto entrepreneur. A few days later, police caught three men who tried to break into the home of David Prinçay, chief of Binance France. Reports said it was another suspected wrench-style attack.